05.25.21

Hoeven Presses Administration to Explain Impact of Proposed Tax Increases on Farmers and Ranchers

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, recently joined Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Senator John Boozman (R-Ark.) in pressing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to clarify the Biden administration’s proposed tax increases and its direct impact on farm estates.

In a letter to the USDA secretary, the senators request that USDA make public a detailed explanation with supporting economic data on the administration’s proposed changes in capital gains tax rates and modifications to stepped-up basis for family farmers and ranchers. The senators specifically request information on how USDA reached its determination that 98 percent of America’s family farms and ranches will not be impacted by the proposed changes.

“The proposed tax impacts are dependent on a number of factors, including but not limited to appreciation in farmland assets prior to a property owner’s death, size of the farm operation and associated assets, income of the heirs, and the farm’s ownership structure. Given these factors, we are writing to seek a detailed explanation and supporting economic analysis clarifying how these tax provisions will affect farm estates, including specifically how USDA arrived at the conclusion that fewer than 2% of farm estates will be impacted by the proposed tax changes,” the senators wrote.

In addition to Hoeven and Boozman, the letter was signed by additional members of the committee including Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Marshall (R-Kans.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

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